Quote
1. Quote - Listen to the quote and guess what the slang means.
“The local kids would catch these snakes and people would eat them regularly, so nobody was batting an eyelid.”
- Actor Christian Bale on eating snakes while filming Rescue Dawn. (Entertainment Weekly)
Definition
1. Definition - Study the definition.
react; flinch
2. Use - Learn how the slang is used.
You know how when something comes near your face, you blink? That’s called batting an eyelid. So anytime someone doesn’t react to something you would expect him or her to, you can say that person didn’t bat an eyelid. Next time you get some bad news, try not to bat an eyelid. It will make you seem tough.
When someone does something difficult without being affected at all, they do it without batting an eyelid. While filming the movie Rescue Dawn about the Vietnam war, Christian Bale and some of the other actors ate a snake. But since he’d seen the local people eating snakes already, it wasn’t a big deal for Christian Bale and he didn’t bat an eyelid.
Examples
1. Examples - Hear some example sentences.
“She just breaks hearts all the time without batting an eyelid.”
“He didn’t even bat an eyelid when they told him his house had burned down.”